Plug for removing deleterious products of combustion from tobacco smoke



Nov. 6, 1962 A. R. BROTHERS PLUG FOR REMOVING DELETERIOUS PRODUCTS COMBUSTION FROM TOBACCO SMOKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 22, 1959 INVENTOR .455 [2. 820711525 BY @MMM ATTORNEY Nov. 6, 1962 A R. BROTHERS 3,062,220

PLUG FOR REMOVING DELETERIOUS PRODUCTS 0F COMBUSTION FROM TOBACCO SMOKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 22, 1959 INVENTQR ATTORNEY United States Patent ()fifice 3,962,220 Patented Nov. 6, 1962 3,052,220 PLUG F OR REMQVING DELETERHDUS PRODUQTS F CONiBUSTIGN FRGM TOBACG SRIOKE Abe R. Brothers, 9&0 .letferson Ave, Brooldyn 21, N.Y. Filed Apr. 22, 1959, Ser. No. 808,149 6 Claims. (Cl. 131-201) This invention is a plug adapted to be incorporated in the mouth end of a cigarette or any other means for smoking tobacco and serving to remove deleterious products of combustion from smoke passing therethrough to the user.

The plug of this invention may be used to carry out the invention described and claimed in my Patent No. 2,764,513, issued September 25, 1956, and my copending patent application, Serial No. 744,539, filed June 25, 1958, now abandoned, of which this application is a continuation-in-part.

So-called filter cigarettes incorporate within the mouth end of the cigarette various forms of filtering material, such as cotton, cellulose and other fibrous material, which are intended to trap and filter from the smoke, tars, nicotine, dust and other products of combustion passing therethrough. These filters, generally fibrous in nature, are usually compact filtering bodies functioning in the manner described. However, experience has shown that they are not entirely satisfactory. In many cases they tend to produce a taste quite different from smoke from a cigarette not equipped with a filter and they present problems in the manufacture of a cigarette due to the lack of uniformity in the character of the filtering material and the absence of uniform dimensions and roundness.

The object of the present invention is to provide a plug adapted to be incorporated in a cigarette and any other means for smoking tobacco, which will serve, because of its peculiar and novel formation, to clear the smoke of very appreciable quantities of deleterious material without the employment of any fibrous, other filtering agent or chemicals incorporated in said plug, thereby eliminating the risk of such materials entering the smokers body. The many so-called filters, whether in the form of tobacco particles or in conventional fibrous filters, cause the smoke to be delivered in fine concentrated and harsh streams due to the very many minute openings in the cross sectional smoke path whereas this invention delivers the smoke in smooth uniform volume.

An important feature of this invention is that the plug can be readily pre-prepared as a unit by use of automatic machinery and effectually and efiiciently incorporated in a cigarette through the employment of any filter plug attachment unit connected to any conventional cigarette making machine.

Another important feature of the invention is that the plug is free from loose fibrous and other substances and thus is in marked contrast to prior filters wherein loose fibres and chemicals incorporated therein became displaced from the filters during the manufacture of the cigarettes. They accumulate in different parts of the plug attachment unit of the cigarette making machine and require periodical shut-downs of such machine in order to permit the freeing of such fibrous and other accumulations. Such shut-downs are entirely eliminated when the plug of the present invention is used.

The plug of this invention comprises an outer tubular Wall or tube adapted to be encased within or joined to the month end of a cigarette or other means for smoking tobacco. The interior of this tube is provided therein with a succession of chambers separated from one another by one or more jet forming partitions, each of which has a smoke passage, the cross sectional area of which is equivalent to that of a circle of the order of .0l5".070" diameter, and also by baffies which provide smoke pas sages arranged ofi-center and successively staggered with respect to the smoke passage of the jet forming partition or partitions as the case may be. The passages in the partitions and battles are arranged on opposite sides of the longitudinal medial plane of the plug and both the partitions and baflles are in the form of cross axially extending walls across the interior of the external tubular wall. The majority of said smoke passages are of a constricted nature so that smoke passing therethrough is constricted under the impulse of atmospheric pressure generated by suction on the cigarette by the smoker and traverses said passages at high velocity without violent turbulence. As a result the smoke solids and liquids are impelled against all the surfaces of these cross axial walls and against the interior surfaces of the tubular wall and adhere thereto. The liquids and solids which remain in gaseous form may not be deposited in the manner stated but, as they pass through the opening leading to the next chamber at the high velocity indicated, experience has shown that they are condensed or otherwise liquefied so that they too adhere to the side of the wall against which they are impelled or impinge and form a heavy accumulation thereon by virtue of which the smoke is divested therefrom.

After the smoke has thus passed through one or more partitions and bafiles in the manner stated, it is found to be free or substantially free from the deleterious materials referred to, at least to an extent as great, if not greater than results from the removal of such materials by the usual fibrous type filters.

An important advantage of this invention is that the present plug does not impart to the tobacco smoke any foreign odor or taste. It allows the smoker to obtain the true tobacco taste Without inhalation of appreciable amounts of natural tobacco or added filter impurities.

Features of the invention, other than those adverted to, including novel ways of constructing the plug of this invention are set forth in the following description and shown in the accompanying drawings.

The accompanying drawings illustrate different practical embodiments of the invention, but the constructions therein shown are to be understood as illustrative, only, and not as defining the limits of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows one way in which the plug of the present invention may be made from plastic by molding or forming processes. This figure shows how a plurality of plugs molded end to end is adapted to be severed for individual use.

FIG. 2 shows one of the plugs of FIG. 1, after it has been severed, folded and joined to the mouth end of a cigarette.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross section of the plug taken in the plane of the line 33 of FIG. 2.

FIGS. 4 and are respectively cross sections on the lines 4-4 and 55 of FIG. 2.

FIGS. 4a and 4b are views corresponding to FIG. 4, but with the smoke passages or openings of difierent shapes.

FIGS. 5a, 5b and 5c are sections corresponding to FIG. 5, but showing constricted smoke passages shown in FIG. 5 of different shapes.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross section on the line 66 of FIG. 5 through one of the partitions of the plug showing a modified joint.

FIGS. 7 to 12, inclusive, are transverse sections of modified forms of the plug showing different arrangements of partitions and smoke passages within the purview of this invention.

The present plug may be conveniently and economically manufactured by injection molding plastic, such as polyethylene, in appropriate dies, with a number of plugs formed as a multiple cast in said dies, said cast to be later cut into sections to produce a corresponding number of plugs. Such a structure is shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings. In FIG. 1 the successive plug portions are molded in reverse for practical manufacturing reasons. For use in substantially cylindrical cigarettes, two substantially semi-cylindrical bodies 1 and 2 are molded so as to be joined by an integral hinge portion 3 and within said semi-cylindrical bodies are molded integral transverse wall sections 4-4a, 5-5a and 6 and integral bead or ring sections '7--7a.

' These wall sections are so located in the respective bodies 1 and 2 that, when they are brought together by folding them on the hinge section 3 to bring the free edges of said bodies into abutting relation to form the exterior tubular wall, the transverse wall sections will come into either edge abutting relation or spaced relation as may be the case. As shown in FIGS. 1-5c, inclusive, the sections 5 and 5a, which collectively produce the jet forming partition of the plug, come into edge abutting relation in a flat joint as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5 or in a mitered joint as shown in FIG. 6, whereas the sections 4, 4a which form one of the baffles, come into closely spaced relation shown in FIGS. 4-4b, inclusive. In the construction of FIGS. 1-3, inclusive, the section 6 in the body 1 has no corresponding section in the part 2. The bead or ring sections 7 and 7a will collectively form a continuous bead or ring about and interiorly of said cylindrical portion.

When the bodies 1 and 2 are folded in the manner described, the edges 8 and 9, which come into face abutting relation, may be adhered to one another by heat sealing them together in either a flat joint or as shown in FIG. 6, or they may be held together by overall paper wrapping the plug. Moreover, the free edge 8 may be provided with a tongue 10 adapted to be received into a groove 11 formed in the edge 9. If such a tongue and groove arrangement is used, the tongue is preferably made larger or bulbous along its free edge and the groove 11 complementarily formed, as shown best in FIG. 3, so as to tend to lock these parts together. This tongue and groove formation may extend for the full length of the molded structure, as in FIG. 1, or it may extend for only a portion of the length of each plug. Where the original cast is cut in the plane of the line 12 of FIG. 1, the tongue and groove may terminate short of this plane, which corresponds to the mouth end of the plug, so that the tongue and groove arrangement is not visible from that end of the cigarette which is ordinarily exposed to view.

The several transverse wall sections formed by folding'the substantially semi-cylindrical parts 1 and 2 as stated, are provided with smoke passages. These may be formed in various ways, illustrative examples of which are shown in FIGS. 2, 4, 5, and 7-12, inclusive. In FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 the baflie section 4 is provided with a central projecting tongue 13 which fits loosely into a cutout 13a in the companion section 4a, but is of less depth than the cut-out, so as to form between the end of the tongue and the base of the cut-out 13a a smoke passage 14 located at one side of the plane of the joint between the edges 8, 9 and hinge portion 3 of FIG. 1. This plane is indicated at 15 in FIG. 2. The section 5 has an opening 16, which, when the parts 1 and 2 are folded to come into contacting relation, forms a constricted smoke passage 16, the function of which will be presently described. The baffie 6 may or may not have a companion section, but if it does not, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, it extends beyond the plane 15 and to the opposite side thereof from the smoke passage 16. If it has a companion section, it may be alined with or below it in the respective parts 1 or 2 as shown in FIGS. 7-12, inclusive.

When a plug, constructed as described, is joined to a cigarette by means of tipping 17 at the month end of the cigarette, the parts will appear as shown in FIG. 2 with the tobacco 18 and the cigarette paper 22, which forms the remainder of the cigarette, spaced from the bafiie 4-4a.

Particular attention is directed to the jet forming partition formed by the sections 5 and 5a with the smoke passage 16 therein. This partition constitutes an important characteristic of the present invention for it extends entirely across the interior of the tubular outer wall of the plug and forms therewith a tight seal, so that the only path of travel of the smoke past this partition must be by way of the smoke passage 16. My research and tests have shown that this passage must have certain definite characteristics. It must be so constituted that atmospheric pressure penetrating the associated cigarette and producing an unbalanced condition Within the'cigarette and plug, due to suction produced by the smoker, will cause the smoke to traverse the passage 16 at extremely high velocity constituting in efiect a jet of concentrated smoke. As this jet leaves the passage 16, it impinges directly upon the bafile 6, producing within the chamber 20 a marked degree of turbulence which causes the smoke to impinge upon all of the walls of said chamber with the result that residual tars and other impurities adhere to said wall and are thus freed from the smoke in this chamber. In the smoking of a cigarette it has been noted that a particularly large accumulation occurs on the surface of the bafile 6 facing the passage 16, although deposits of deleterious materials are found on all of the walls of said chamber. Leaving the chamber 20, the smoke passes the free edge of the bafiie 6 through chamber 21 directly to the mouth of the smoker through the ring bead 7 which serves as a dam for any solids or liquids in advance thereof.

Experience has shown that, in order to produce the results hereinbefore described, the jet forming passage 16 should have a cross sectional area substantially equal to the cross sectional area of a circle having a diameter of .015 to .070".

The plug may be provided with a single jet forming partition and a single bafiie as described. FIG. 7 of the drawings shows such an arrangement. FIGS. 1 and 2 additionally show a baffle embodying the sections 4 and 4a between the tobacco in the cigarette and the jet forming partition. The advantage of this construction is that this bafile serves to form a chamber 19 between the baflle and the jet forming partition which chamber has a cooling effect upon the smoke with consequent condensing action on the condensible material in the smoke. The material removed in this chamber, due to condensation drop, will accumulate limited amounts of undesirable matter upon the Walls of this chamber and thus free the smoke therefrom before the smoke passes through passage 16 in the jet forming partition 5-5a.

In FIGS. 1-3, inclusive, the baflie 6 is shown in the form of a single section. However, this baflie may embody two sections, such, for example, as shown at 6 and 6a in FIGS. 7-12, inclusive. In FIGS. 7, 9 and 11 the bafiie sections 6 and 6a occupy the same plane with spacing between them to provide a free smoke passage, while in FIGS. 8, 10 and 12, these sections are in overlapping relation with a space between them for the same purpose.

In the construction of FIGS. 1 through 5, the plug is shown as provided with a single jet forming partition and the same is true in the construction of FIGS. 7 and 8. However, a plurality of such partitions may be employed. Thus FIGS. 9 and 10 show two jet forming partitions indicated by P in these figures arranged in tandem with the smoke passages 16 arranged on opposite sides of the longitudinal medial plane of the plug while in FIGS. 11 and 12 there are three such partitions P also arranged in tandem with the jet forming smoke openings 16 staggered in the same manner.

When a plurality of jet forming partitions are employed in tandem as in FIGS. 9-12, the function and mode of operation of the single partition described in connection with the construction of FIG. 1 are repeated for each partition, with increasing decimation of deleterious material in the smoke as it passes from one intermediate chamber into the next. However, it should be noted that, in order to accomplish this result, the jet forming passages in successive partitions should be successively smaller in cross sectional area so as to obtain the jet action in each and all of them according to the constantly diminishing volume of smoke passing through them successively.

In FIG. 3 the partition 6 extends below the plane 15 and said extending part is tapered at its lateral edges, so that, when parts 1 and 2 are folded together, one edge of this tapered portion will press against the wall of the part 2 contiguous to the groove 11 therein. By so doing, it will serve to lock the tongue 10 in said groove against inadvertent displacement.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, the smoke passages are of the shapes illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. However, these openings may be of any desired shape, a few illustrative forms being shown in FIGS. 4a and 4b or a, 5b and 5c. The important fact is that all of these smoke passages, irrespective of shape, should insure high velocity of the smoke passing therethrough and keep the chambers free of tobacco particles, as hereinbefore explained.

Irrespective of the number of jet forming partitions and baffles employed, the smoke passages thereof are successively positioned on opposite sides of the longitudinal plane of the plug to obtain the desired results. It facilitates molding of the integral parts 1 and 2 if these passages are formed at the free edges of the partition and baffle sections for this arrangement obviates the necessity of core pins and other expedients required to form these openings in other positions.

Particular attention is called to the fact that the plug of the present invention, as hereinbefore described, is completely devoid of filtering material. It is not a filter but is, in contradistinction, a device for removing the deleterious products of tobacco smoke Without employing any filtering medium or agent, but rather a novel application of fluid dynamics. This fact constitutes pronounced novelty in the art to which the invention relates and it results in many manufacturing advantages and also in certain definite novel effects. It brings about the autogenous removal of the deleterious substances with the highest degree of efliciency under all conditions.

In the foregoing description and in the drawings, reference has been made principally to the injection molding of the plug from a plastic material. This is the preferred embodiment of the invention. I am, however, aware that it is possible to make this plug from sheet stock by cutting in the body of the sheet tabs which may be bent inwardly to form the several sections corresponding to sections 44a, 5-5a and 6, and the sheet thereafter rolled upon itself to produce one or more convolutions corresponding to the outer walls of the respective sections of the plastic molding. Any appropriate sheet material may be used for this purpose, such, for example, as plastic, cardboard, paper or the like.

The foregoing detailed description sets forth the invention in its preferred practical forms, but the invention is to be understood as fully commensurate with the appended claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure -by Letters Patent is:

l. A plug for removing deleterious products of combustion from tobacco smoke comprising: a pair of hollow substantially semi-cylindrical exterior wall parts integrally joined to one another along one longitudinal edge of each of them in a flexible hinge connection and folded upon one another to form a hollow substantially cylindrical tube, said cylindrical tube being provided with at least one transverse jet partition formed in two halves and having therein a jet opening spaced from the interior surface of the tube wall and arranged contiguous to and on one side of the plane of the hinge and joint of the tube, and an impingement bafile spaced from the jet partition in the direction of the passage of smoke through the tube and extending from one of the semi-cylindrical exterior wall parts across said plane with its free edge terminating short of the other exterior wall part to provide a smoke opening of greater cross sectional area than that of the jet opening, whereby smoke passing at high velocity through the opening of the jet partition will impinge in substantially straight line direction against the contiguous surface of the baffle, expand between said partition and 'bafile and pass through said opening between the free edge of the bafiie and the tube Wall, all of said parts of the plug being integral with one another and constituting a one-piece article of manufacture.

2. A plug according to claim 1, comprising means integral with the wall sections for securing the free edges of the exterior wall parts to one another.

3. A plug according to claim 1, comprising a bulbous tongue extending along the free edge of one exterior wall part, and a complementary undercut groove extending along the corresponding edge of the other exterior wall part and adapted to receive the bulbous portion of the tongue to secure said edges of the wall parts to one another.

4. A plug according to claim 3, wherein the baffle bears against the wall of the cylindrical tube contiguous to the groove to lock the tongue in the groove.

5. A plug for removing deleterious products of combustion from tobacco smoke comprising: a pair of hollow substantially semi-cylindrical exterior Wall parts integrally joined to one another along one longitudinal edge of each of them in a flexible hinge connection and folded upon one another to form a hollow substantially cylindrical tube, said cylindrical tube being provided with at least one transverse jet partition formed in two halves and having therein a jet opening spaced from the interior surface of the tube wall and arranged contiguous to and on one side of the plane of the hinge and joint of the tube, and an impingement baffle spaced from the jet partition in the direction of the passage of smoke through the tube and extending from one of the semi-cylindrical exterior wall parts across said plane with its free edge terminating short of the other exterior wall part to provide a smoke opening of greater cross sectional area than that of the jet opening, whereby smoke passing at high velocity through the opening of the jet partition will impinge in substantially straight line direction against the contiguous surface of the baffle, expand between said partition and bafiie and pass through said opening between the free edge of the bafile and the tube wall, there being another baffle positioned in advance of and spaced from the jet partition and formed of two component parts respectively supported on the exterior wall parts of the tube and extending toward one another and provided between them with a space for the free passage of smoke, said latter baffle serving to preclude passage of tobacco particles to the jet opening in the jet partition.

6. A plug according to claim 5, wherein the smoke opening in each partition has a cross sectional area of a circle having a diameter of .015-.070.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 8 Baner et a1 Nov. 13, 1945 Brothers June 20, 1950 Gibbs June 28, 1955 Crawford Dec. 27, 1955 Brothers Sept. 25, 1956 Lebert Oct. 4, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS Canada July 22, 1958 Great Britain June 24, 1940 Italy Oct. 16, 1950 

